The Gift
by Jelp
Summary: Spending Christmas alone is hard for anyone, especially if you're missing your family. Giftfic for lexjamandme.


**The Gift**

It was hard to hold back the tears, especially for an eight year old who had once again been let down by Christmas. Upon entering the living room to find lovely wrapped presents underneath his tree, Naruto knew immediately that what he really wanted wasn't there.

Every year Naruto wrote a letter to Santa asking for his most precious Christmas request. He asked for a visit from his Mommy and Daddy. They were both angels, had been since Naruto was two, but he missed them and wanted to see them on Christmas. While he loved his great auntie-Tsunade very much, she was always extra busy at the hospital because of all the accidents that happened around Christmas time. In his letter to Santa this year, he asked that Aunt Tsunade was able to open gifts with him if Santa couldn't send his parents. He didn't see his parents, and Aunt Tsunade was no where in sight. Once again his Christmas wish was left unfulfilled. A card wishing him a Merry Christmas was laid by the crumb-filled (but otherwise empty) cookie plate he'd left out for Santa the night before.

Most often on Christmas morning he was left alone with a stack full of presents in an empty house. He thought maybe two years ago Aunt Tsunade hadn't been working. Or maybe it had been three. It had been nice to have her there for a change. Either way, this particular Christmas morning, Naruto was alone. He wiped at the tears that had started to fall as he looked up at the Christmas tree.

An ornament of two angels, wings spread wide with their hands clasped rotated slowly close to the top of the tree. The silver glean glistened as the ornament twirled slightly in the rotating hangar made specially to animate the ornament. Santa had brought that last Christmas for him. The two angels ornament with the engraving of his parents' name was beautiful, but the beauty was lost and distorted to a little boy who terribly missed his parents.

The ornate grandfather clock sitting in the corner of the living room, the only thing Tsunade had taken from his parent's old house, chimed softly. Emotion welled up within Naruto as the chimes struck, and he wiped furiously at his eyes at the tears began to fall.

Aunt Tsunade told him he could open up his presents. The last couple of years he had tried to wait for her, but most times she was so late at the hospital that by the time she got home, she was almost snappish at him for waiting.

Mr. Sarutobi, the elderly next door neighbor, was sure to check in on him soon anyway, and he would be sad if Naruto seemed sad. Aunt Tsunade always made sure to let Mr. and Mrs. Sarutobi know when she had her late shifts on non-school days. Mr. Sarutobi would stop by to make sure Naruto was alright. Last year Naruto had spent most of the day over at his neighbor's house at Mr. Sarutobi's insistence, but Naruto had felt even lonelier watching Mr. and Mrs. Sarutobi enjoy Christmas with their children and grandchildren.

Naruto began to monotonously open his presents, a slight hope that perhaps his parents would appear as he was opening his gifts. He did his best to quell the onslaught of sadness. And as Naruto opened his gifts, he was excited to see new videogames, an RC monster truck, DVDs, cool slippers that made loud noise when stomped, and a lot of other, really nice gifts.

After opening almost every gift, Naruto saved one to open so that his aunt could watch him open something, his mood greatly improved. It was oddly shaped and rather heavy, making Naruto think it was special. He placed the last, rather heavy present next to the gift that he had wrapped especially for her, the bits and pieces of several different wrapping papers taped to it in a rather interesting pattern. It sat next to the other unopened gifts: one for Mr. and Mrs. Sarutobi, and another for his aunt's not-quite-boyfriend who would stop by and see them tomorrow.

While waiting for his aunt's return, he played with his new gifts for a little while, getting happily distracted as he played a racing videogame while adding sound effects by stomping his slipper-clad feet every now and then.

The doorbell rang. Mr. Sarutobi entered without waiting for Naruto to get to the door.

"Merry Christmas Naruto!" Mr. Sarutobi greeted in his rumbling voice. Naruto paused the videogame, turned, and smiled happily. Bounding to his feet, Naruto returned the Christmas greeting.

"Merry Christmas to you too!"

In Mr. Sarutobi's hand was a neatly wrapped present that he offered to Naruto.

"Thank you!" Naruto exclaimed as he accepted the gift and hastily tore off the wrapping. Inside was a handmade scarf. It was bright orange and fluffy. Exactly the kind of thing that Naruto loved but Aunt Tsunade would never buy for him as it would be too "tacky." As it was handmade and a gift, Naruto knew his aunt would let him wear it. "AWESOME!" Naruto said as he wrapped it around his neck, rubbing the soft scarf against his face.

"Glad you like it," Mr. Sarutobi said amused. Naruto grinned before turning back toward the Christmas tree.

"I have something for you too!" Naruto said as he went to grab the gift from the significantly smaller present pile. As he reached to grab it, his eyes raked over the oddly shaped gift from his Aunt Tsunade and the one he'd bought for her. As his hands clutched the gift for Mr. and Mrs. Sarutobi, he pulled it to his chest, a frown forming his face. The smell of pine washed over him as he stood so still and close to the tree. An ornament swung from where he had brushed the tree to get the gift.

"Mr. Sarutobi," Naruto started, looking at the presents as he batted at the swinging ornament, "Do you think that maybe you could take me to visit Aunt Tsunade? I want to give her the present I got her." His voice hitched with emotion.

His blue eyes were wide with hope, chasing away his haunting look of loneliness. It only took a second for Sarutobi to see the earnest yearning. There was no way he could refuse such a request.

"Of course. Go get dressed. We can leave in five minutes if you're quick."

Grinning broadly, Naruto ran up the stairs and returned in less than two minutes. He quickly grabbed the present he had gotten his aunt, and the present he was going to open in front of her. Naruto grunted, extremely surprised at the weight of the gift, before running out the front door.

* * *

Upon arriving at the hospital, the staff grinned happily at Naruto, a very familiar face.

"Hey kiddo!" one of the nurses called. All the staff wished him a very Merry Christmas, recognizing the nephew of their Head of Staff. A helpful nurse directed Naruto and Mr. Sarutobi to the third floor.

"Boy, what're you doing here?" his aunt called fondly as he and Mr. Sarutobi spotted her talking to the nurses at the nurse station on the third floor level.

"Merry Christmas!" Naruto said happily. Her hardened face softened into a grateful smile as Naruto walked quickly toward her, grinning as he held out the gift he had for her. She took it, smiling as she unwrapped the very unique wrap job. He gripped his heavy present to his chest, hugging it tight as he eagerly watched her face.

She unraveled a blue and white sake set engraved with _Best Aunt Ever!_

"Jiraiya helped me pick it out!" Naruto said enthusiastically. Tsunade snorted, before giving Naruto a big hug.

"I'll bet he did," Tsunade murmured. "Thank you." She gave him a kiss on the forehead, making Naruto blush but feel pleased all the same. "I think-"

An alarm sounded on the nurse's call station. One of the nurses looked up, startled.

"Doctor! The patient in Room 314-"

"I'm on it," Tsunade said, as she quickly gripped Naruto's shoulder in thanks before rushing away. Naruto swallowed hesitantly. Having come to the hospital enough times, he knew that it was his aunt's job to be ready to help at a moment's notice. He was proud that she saved people's lives. He clutched the present in his hand, the one she had given him. He had wanted her to watch him open it.

"We can wait till she comes back," Mr. Sarutobi offered kindly. They walked over to some chairs set against the wall out of the way. Not even two minutes had passed before Naruto heard Mr. Sarutobi snoring. He turned to look, seeing the old man with his head rolled back, his mouth wide open as he snored. Naruto giggled.

Not that Mr. Sarutobi had been all the exciting in the first place, Naruto began to fidget with the wrapped gift in his hand. He lifted it, seeing how many times he could lift the thing before his arms finally got tired. He precariously propped the un-open gift on the back of the chair where he took precious time to balance it.

Holding it with his fingers, Naruto wondered how long he could hold it there like that, and he hoped his aunt would come back sooner than the time it took for it to fall.

Sighing, Naruto sat sideways in the chair. One hand held the gift in balance while the other arm swung in time with the one leg that hung over the edge of the chair. He waited impatiently for his aunt to come back. He leaned forward in his chair, looking down the hallway. He leaned so far that he lurched out of his chair, his fingers slipping from his gift, causing him to fall awkwardly, landing flat and hard on his head. A resounding _thud_ sounded as the gift came tumbling down after him.

"Owww," Naruto groaned. He rubbed vigorously at his head, shaking it side to side, the pain fading rather quickly even as the flush of embarrassment crept up his cheeks.

His eyes darted around to see if anyone had seen him.

To his left he saw a boy around his age standing in the doorway of a room looking at him rather bemused.

His face burned with even deeper shame since someone had seen him fall out of his seat and land heavily on his head. He also felt rather bad that he hadn't noticed the other boy before. Naruto picked up the gift and cradled it to his chest lest he drop it again.

"I meant to do that," Naruto said matter-of-factly.

"Hn," the boy said as he turned to look back into the room.

"Er, so yeah." Naruto glanced back down the hallway, standing up straight now that he was "purposefully" out of his seat.

The other boy looked at him uninterestedly before turning back to the bed in the room. Naruto tilted his head to the side, trying to get a look at the person in the bed, but the half-open door was in his way.

"I'm Naruto. So, uh, who're you visiting?" Naruto asked.

"My brother, Itachi. I'm Sasuke," the boy said, his voice bored as though he were only speaking out of politeness.

"Oh. That's, uh, cool, I guess." Naruto walked into the room that Sasuke was in, noticing that the bed was actually empty. Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Uh..."

"He's down that way," Sasuke said nodding toward the other end of the hallway. "But all the doctors and nurses came running to his room, so I got out of the way." Sasuke swallowed, his face looking suddenly stricken. "My mom and dad just died in a car accident. And now Itachi...I think...I don't think he's going to make it. I'll be all alone. I didn't even get to open my Christmas presents or have Dad taste the cookies Mom and I made."

Tears were freely streaming down Sasuke's face now. Naruto swallowed back his own tears.

"I'm...I'm sorry. My mom and dad are angels now too."

"Angels?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded.

"They look over me. I miss them. But you should get something to open on Christmas. You know, until your brother gets better. I'm sure he will, and then you can both open your presents together and your parents will watch from heaven."

"They'll be watching me?" Sasuke asked, looking at Naruto hopefully, the tears still streaming silently down his face.

"Yep! Mine are," Naruto said proudly.

"You see them?" Sasuke asked hopefully. The proud look faded from his face.

"No. Not yet. I write to Santa every year, but he still hasn't let me see them on Christmas..."

Sasuke snorted, even as the tears continued to fall.

"Santa only gives presents. Not angels," Sasuke said as he looked at the empty bed. He sniffled before wiping at his eyes and nose. Sasuke stuck his head out of the doorway, looking down the hallway. None of the nurses or Naruto's aunt had emerged from Itachi's room.

"Here. Open this," Naruto said, handing Sasuke the gift he had brought with him.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, taking the heavy present. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"It's a present. You're not supposed to know till you open it," Naruto informed Sasuke. Even so, he looked on eagerly as Sasuke opened the present.

They both gasped as the paper fell to the floor.

An angel stood on one foot, her white wings extended as though dancing inside an enormous snow globe. Sasuke shook it.

"Wow..." Sasuke breathed, shaking the snow globe, watching the beauty of the silent swirling snowflakes in the globe swirl around the angel. "Thank you."

"See! An angel for Christmas! And I'm sure where your parents are – and where my parents are – they're both in a place even more beautiful." Naruto said happily.

"It is beautiful," Sasuke agreed. "I don't think I've ever really believed in angels before, but now, I guess I have to. And I'm glad to think my parents are in a place prettier than this."

Naruto felt something wonderfully warm well from deep inside him. He missed his parents terribly. He knew what Sasuke was going through being lonely on Christmas. But the fact that he was able to make someone else happy, that he was able to make someone else have hope, made him feel like he had some purpose.

"Finally. For a while, we weren't sure you would make it Sasuke."

Both Sasuke and Naruto turned to see a woman, practically glowing, standing in the doorway of the empty hospital room. Her dark hair curled softly around her face, her dark eyes warm and gentle. A man stood half-hidden behind her.

"Mom?" Sasuke asked, his eyes wide in disbelief. Naruto's mouth hung open in shock, looking at Sasuke's mom. Looking at an angel because obviously no real person could glow like that. "Dad?" Sasuke added, looking over his mother's shoulder at his father. She nodded happily, and Sasuke ran into her waiting embrace.

"Angels?" Naruto breathed in awe. His smile widened at looking at the angels. In an instant, a sudden heartache froze the warm feeling he had just had inside him. For so long he had wished, prayed, and hoped to see his parents. Now Sasuke could see his parents, but Naruto didn't get to see his mom and dad. "But...where are my parents?" Naruto choked out, tears coming to his eyes.

Sasuke's mom looked over at Naruto and smiled kindly.

"They're waiting for you, Naruto. You can come with us. We can show them to you," she said happily. Naruto's face brightened.

"Really?" Naruto asked, beyond delighted. Sasuke's mom nodded as she held out her hand for Naruto.

"Just follow us, and we'll show you where they are. We're just going to get Itachi quickly."

Sasuke's parents, Sasuke, and Naruto came out of the empty hospital room.

As they passed the nurses' station, paperwork fluttered on the desk. One patient chart rustled more than the others. The name Uchiha Sasuke with "CAR ACCIDENT" sprawled across the space for reason of death fluttered eerily.

They moved down the hallway, Sasuke's mom methodically keeping Naruto on her left to avoid seeing the now lifeless earthly body he'd left behind, his head cracked open from when the non-giving hospital floor and heavy snow globe had fatally fallen onto his head.

Down the hallway Naruto's mother and father waited with open arms as Naruto ran passed the room where Uchiha Itachi's machine flat lined, not noticing as Itachi joined his family, also leaving behind his earthly body.

"Merry Christmas, Naruto!" Naruto's mother and father greeted happily. They kissed and hugged him tightly. They smiled happily at the Uchiha family. "You should come over for Christmas tea," Naruto's father said graciously to the Uchihas.

"Thank you, that sounds very nice."

Sasuke and Naruto grinned to each other, both happy to be spending Christmas – and unknowingly the rest of eternity – with each other and their families.

**The End.**

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**Gift fic dedicated to lexjamandme. ~ Jelp**  
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